Get the Right Mouse for MMO Play

MMO games are almost as old as the PC itself. Today, you or your kids might be glued, bleary-eyed, to World of Warcraft, clicking away with abandon with your mouse. But massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) like WoW and their related kin—multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) games like League of Legends or DOTA 2—are far from a new obsession.

The first MMO games, in their Jurassic form, were text-based, played via small, non-commercial servers or online services such as GEnie. And even then, MMO players faced the same issues: In a large online world, how to escape the tedium of traveling between distant locations? Given an arsenal of spells or weapons, how to switch among them, and fast?

The solutions of yesteryear are still familiar: macros! But back then they were crude and homegrown, involving typing text. (Did a medusa just enter your square? Peck in that macro to slug a potion for petrification resistance.) This approach had its limitations, as you'd expect. For one thing, where there's typing, there's typos. In the medusa scenario, a misstroke meant you ended up as exotic statuary.

We've moved far beyond text-based MMOs, of course, but in a sense, nothing's changed. MMOs and macros still go together like chocolate and...well, just about anything. Which brings us to modern mice and their ability to execute macros.

All About Those Buttons

Today, the mouse acts as a turning device, an aiming tool, hands for grabbing or consuming or casting or throwing or climbing. Using any mouse in an MMO game, pointing and clicking, is better than tapping out key commands. But form ever follows function, and in the last five years MMO-specific mice have emerged as a subclass of PC gaming mice. And like Chia Pets, these models have sprouted buttons all over their bodies for triggering macros and shortcuts.

The most extreme of these are marketed clearly as MMO mice and pack big banks of buttons. Others, touted as high-end gaming mice, but with more buttons than your usual model, can work well for MMOs, too. Because these aren't quite so button-laden, they are also useful (and less cumbersome) for genres other than MMOs, such as MOBAs, or battle-arena titles like Fortnite and PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

Physical design is one avenue we'll travel down, as we consider what to keep in mind when looking for a good MMO mouse. The other is mouse software—not just macro creation (though that's important), but also tools that can help you configure your mouse to maximum advantage in this specific genre of game.

MMO Mice: What to Look for in the Hardware

Buttons in Bulk. This should be obvious, but if you're not an MMO connoiseur and are, say, buying a mouse as a gift on the sly for a dedicated player of WoW or another MMO, you might not realize this. But it's the single most defining element of an MMO mouse: lots of buttons. A general-use gaming mouse might be fine for non-tournament-based FPS play, for RTS, TBS, RPG, and all the other game-genre acronyms. But it won't be ideally suited to a serious, full-fledged MMO environment if you're heavily into shortcuts.

Most gaming mice offer three, perhaps four, buttons to configure. In practice, though, essentials like your scroll-wheel button, any buttons on the pinky side of your hand, and the main left- and right-click mouse buttons don't really count. Serious MMO mice typically supply 10 or more dedicated buttons. Some offer additional "mode shift" buttons or toggles that double or triple the commands you can trigger from a single button.

A hard-core MMO mouse may have eight to 10 side buttons, mostly accessible at your thumb and thus geared toward right-handed folks. Prototypical examples are the now-classic Razer Naga and newer Razer Naga Hex v2, as well as the Roccat Nyth.

Comfort. MMO players may not play more total hours than gamers in any other genre, but many of them rack up lots of continuous hours. They form teams that accept lengthy, major engagements that may consume a whole night. And even when they don't, it's hard to just quit—matches are long, and there's the addictive nature of the things. (Try calling a teen to dinner in the midst of a heated WoW or DOTA 2 session—expect an argument, and cold chicken.)

All of which means that an MMO mouse should emphasize comfort. It must feel natural in hand. And this doesn't mean just fitting your fingers and palm: The buttons should feel like a natural reach, too. Of course, no two hands are alike, so some MMO mice come with two or even three sculpted grips you can swap out for a better contour for your hand.

Meanwhile, if you've got a friend who recommends a given MMO mouse, see if you can borrow it (read: pry it away, against protests about tonight's gaming session) and audition it for a day or two. Remember, an MMO marathon will magnify any slight discomfort you feel after an hour or two. You want it to feel just right for your hand.

Ease of Use. Comfort and ease of use are not the same. Your MMO mouse should fit your hand like a glove, but can you move your fingers and manipulate objects while wearing that glove? (A glove can be comfortable to wear but too clumsy for fine tasks.)

Some manufacturers help matters along by letting you physically adjust access to those buttons. In one classic example, the Corsair Scimitar RGB, the mouse's designers set the mouse's block of 12 buttons into a panel. A small screwdriver supplied with the mouse allows you to loosen up the block, and slide it left or right, to your thumb's happy place. Nice!

Button Touch Signals. With so many side buttons, you need a way to tell them apart without looking. You might use the ball of your thumb: easy to move, but with a low nerve count, making it hard to distinguish between buttons in the heat of battle. The thumb tip, in contrast, has a high nerve count, making it far easier to detect the edges and positions of buttons. But relying on the thumb tip is harder on the joints and muscles over time.

It helps if the mouse provides cues you can feel. Buttons in an oval or circular arrangement have curved sides that set each one off. Other mice use buttons that mix rough and smooth textures. Angling the button surfaces differently is yet another approach.

A fourth one is in the venerable Roccat Nyth we mentioned earlier. This unique MMO mouse lets you remove any or all of its 12 modular side buttons, replacing whichever you want with double-wide buttons or quadruple-wide blanks.

You'll also want to assess each MMO mouse for the tactile distinction between its neighboring buttons. Is there a firm, moderately sharp edge that clarifies where one button stops and the next begins? Is there enough space between the buttons to tell them apart?

Sturdiness. Some users prefer a lighter mouse; others, a heavier one. But everybody wants a mouse that can withstand prolonged use/abuse, and MMO players are hard on their mice. Manufacturers of MMO mice are good about this; after all, the average MMO is an investment of sorts, as mice go. But it still pays to keep this in mind when mouse hunting. Ignore the store packaging: Try to handle the unit, if you can.

Mouse Sensors. These typically come in one of two flavors, laser or optical. Laser sensors have the advantage of being able to track nearly anywhere, including vertical surfaces and transparent ones. Not so optical sensors, which can struggle with translucent surfaces. Optical sensors are often credited with an advantage when it comes to tracking sensitivity, but we doubt you'll notice any difference. We wouldn't make this a major factor in your buy; if you're serious, you'll use a proper mouse pad, anyway, so surface compatibility will be a non-issue.

MMO Mouse Software: Here's What You Need

Macro Creation. Creating macros in your MMO mouse's software utility should be transparent and painless, if you just want to make easy record-and-playback macros. The software for MMO mice today is more than capable of that, and even simple macros can accomplish a great deal. (Bear in mind that some games, especially certain MOBAs, frown on the use of battle macros.)

Advanced options are what separate the good from the great for serious MMO tweak hounds. Just how sophisticated a macro can you build with that software? Can you create one that will conditionally launch other macros, or transcribe a series of key combinations held down simultaneously? Can you launch a macro that runs one command when its key is pressed, and another when the key is released? Scan the manuals, and get familiar with what the mouse's macros can and cannot do.

Software Profiles. You should be able to use your mouse's software to store as many game-configuration profiles as you want. What's more, you should be able to swap out profiles on the fly. Playing an MMO game that has a mini-game? Pressing a key should switch profiles and configure your side buttons suitably for the moment. Or, if you're playing multiple characters at one time in an MMO, you should be able to switch instantly from one to another, each with its own set of macros. (Plus, it's possible you could assign the profile-switch action itself to a mouse button.)

Your profiles should be exportable, as well. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to copy and store profiles on a thumb drive, or e-mail them to yourself, so you can continue gaming on multiple systems while traveling.

Finally, don't be oversold on mouse software that promises pre-made profiles for dozens or even hundreds of games. That sounds great in theory; in practice, those profiles won't be tailored to your personal needs, and you probably play only a handful of the games, anyway. Of course, these pre-baked profiles can serve as a starting point for customization.

The UI: Looks Aren't Everything, But... Don't forget to factor in the software utility's legibility, screen organization, easy access to sensibly grouped options, and help system, especially if the mouse is geared toward complex macro design. The last is especially important in the MMO world.

Handy tip: If possible, download, install, and run the configuration software of any MMO mouse where you plan to ultimately use it, before you buy. You probably won't see more than a single screen before the software tells you it can't detect the mouse. But you might get a basic look around.

Mouse Hardware Configuration. Evaluate just how many DPI settings the software can maintain, and whether you can separate the tracking resolutions of the X and Y axes. Does the software feature a lift-distance wizard (which lets you customize how far you can pick up the mouse before it stops registering sensor input), or a slider to help compensate for differently textured operating surfaces?

Anything a really good general mouse offers through its configuration panel, an MMO mouse should supply too. Angle snapping (which helps you move the mouse in straight lines) and a dedicated DPI toggle (ideally separate from your side buttons) are bonuses.

Ready for Our Recommendations?

Everything we've suggested so far in our recommendations, both about MMO mice and their configuration software, can be summed up by three words: read, compare, test. This is where our reviews come in.

These mice rounded up below are top performers in our hands-on testing. If you're looking for a more general-use gaming mouse, though, check out our wider-scope guide to the best gaming mice, and for a nifty-looking companion keyboard, see our guide to the best RGB keyboards.

Cons: Expensive. No side grips. No separate X/Y axis controls. Righties only. Only five stored profiles. Battery only good for about 20 hours. No "battery low" notification. USB cable is hard to detach.

Bottom Line: This excellent wireless version of Roccat's Tyon has plenty of well-distributed buttons, but it's pricey, and the software configuration utility needs a major update.

Cons: Side buttons all release at once when swapping. No angle snapping. No help in configuration utility. Little depth to macro editor.

Bottom Line: The Nyth offers a dozen highly configurable, modular side buttons. If you can manage the tricky button swapping and the foibles of the configuration utility, you'll find it a great MMO mouse.

Bottom Line: Dated configuration software and a high price hamper this gaming mouse, but its body can be configured for lefties as well as righties. Check back for software improvements and a price drop.

Cons: Quirky styling colors. No lift-distance wizard. Annoying light. Stores only one profile. Side buttons can be awkward to reach.

Bottom Line: This Scimitar has two sharp points: Corsair's very good software, and some solid ergonomic details. But as in any MMO mouse, its side buttons are tightly packed, perhaps not to everyone's liking.

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About the Author

In 1987, Barry left public radio production and management after 17 years. Since then, he has written hundreds of reviews, articles, and the occasional column for a wide variety of magazines on computer-related subjects. He also works as a critic of new releases of classical music for Fanfare Magazine. See Full Bio